Catholic

On the calendar of saints, this is the memorial of Saint Maurus and of Saint Placidus, followers of Saint Benedict, and monks in his monastery. There is a wonderful story about them, told over at VultusChristi. Here are stained glass windows of the two saints, from Saint Benedict in Richmond, Virginia. They are not large windows. Saint Maurus is in the narthex, and Saint Placidus is by the stairs going to the choir loft. I love the peace the artist shows on their faces. Saints Maurus and Placidus, pray for us!

Back here, The moon, and Venus. Just because, pretty photography; and, this is the 46th anniversary (!) of man landing on the moon. The photo below was taken just before the 20th anniversary, in 1989, in Huntsville, Alabama. These are Aldrin, Armstrong, and Collins, being raised in some sort of lift, above a large crowd that had come to see them. Music was blaring and there was a laser show. The crowd was full of actual rocket scientists. We were standing behind a rope at the edge of an artificial moon crater that had been used for training during Apollo days. When the astronauts were lifted up like this a wave of something nearly like worship roared out of the crowd, rolled across the crater, and made me draw back. The yearning was understandable, but it was too close to worship.

Saint Longinus the Centurion. Photo taken in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Nov. 2014. If you look closely you can see bees sculpted into the pedestal. There are many of these Saint Peter’s…. a subject for an upcoming post.